Yesterday a former student stopped by my class to say hello. He stood awkwardly in front of me for a second until his friend told me that he wanted a hug.
Nothing was wrong. He just hadn't seen me in a long time and missed me. And he had told his friend as much on the drive over.

Later in the day, I received an email from the same boy’s brother, a student who I once taught in second grade. He is in college now and wanted help on a paper that he was writing for English class.

Some students drift in and out of your class like ships in the night, never to be seen again, and others bless you with their continued presence in your life.

I was feeling very fortunate yesterday.

And it makes me sad to think that as a student, I was often one of those ships in the night. I didn’t love all my teachers, but I loved quite a few and never bothered to let them know.

I’ll make it a point of finding one this week and letting him or her know.